Shadowcub

Nothing in over a year? Wow! Not even crickets chirping in here. (Must have all died of lonelieness, I guess.) I'm thinking about starting my fifth journey towards WLS at 47 with a BMI over 60. I have pretty much the whole list of co-morbidities other than diabetes: hypertension, sleep apnea, bad osteoarthritis in my knees, collapsing disks and bone spurs in my back, and on, and on, and on. A friend recently (Jan 19, 2015) had the gastric sleeve done. He's about 200 miles away, but is probably the only person who supports me. I've only got a couple of real friends here in Pittsburgh, PA, and since they're both in OA are dead set against me getting the surgery. Last night I saw that the Maestro, the vegus nerve "pacemaker", was approved a couple days ago. Too early to tell what insurances might cover it. I'm on SSDI due to all my co-morbidities and Medicare is funny. They cover WLS, and at my BMI, they don't really have any conditions for approval,. (The doctor I'd use DOES want 3 months weight loss attempt, pre-op education, and a bunch of tests to make sure I'm a reasonable risk for the surgery.) And Medicare just started covering Obesity Counseling. But medications, weight-loss shakes, etc. are all NOT covered. No idea if the Maestro will be covered as a type of WLS or excluded for being a lessor procedure. I'm concerned about the expected complications that go hand-in-hand with a RNY like malabsorption of Calcium, B-vitamins, difficulties getting enough Protein and Water, etc.And my local friends hype those potential problems. Being on Disability has me on a very tight budget and most of my food comes from food banks and food stamps so I'm not sure how I'll afford at the supplements I'll need post-op. Anyway, I have a feeling I'm talking into empty space, and maybe that's why I feel comfortable saying all this here. I'll shut up now and let the dust resettle.

I was half-tempted to wait until March 28 to post this as the last two replies were from January 28 and February 28. But then I decided that would just be silly! I can't help but wonder while this particular forum seems to get so little love. Do people over 40 just not get WLS as often as younger folks do? Have we (this age bracket) given up on losing weight and are just biding our time with pizza and bonbons until our co-morbidities take us to the next world? Or maybe the 40+ crowd still gets WLS, just not Bypasses? Do we go for Sleeves or even Lap Bands instead, fearful of the malabsorption leading to malnutrition and it's own medical problems and treatments replacing those we already know from being obese? Possibly we're just "too old" for all this on-line and social media stuff? After all, we were born into a world of room-sized computers using punch cards with less processing power that is now in our cell phones. We remember nodding sagely at Bill Gates as he made his "never need more than 640k of RAM" comment. A world first, before AOL and then one where we all had dozens of their CDs to use as coaster. We remember the 1984 commercial introducing the world to the Macintosh from whence all iStuff was born. Many of us remember DARPAnet and the horror we felt when we first found somebody trying to make money on the Internet, after all, it was for sharing knowledge and advancing research freely, not crass commercialism! And so, we turn to in-person supports as we face the challenges of WLS, unlike those follow us knowing nothing BUT on-line everything. But this sub-board is NOT dead. This thread is NOT dead. Our joint Quest to live healthier, happier, thinner lives is NOT dead! (With sincere apologies to William Shakespeare and Henry V of England) We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; For he to-day that loses his weight with me Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile, This day shall gentle his condition; And gentlemen in England now-a-bed Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here, And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks Of the weight we lost upon Saint Crispin's day.

Did anyone else see this? http://well.blogs.nytimes.com//2014/12/17/how-exercise-changes-our-dna/ Thoughts? Comments?

February 1st, I see a nutritionist not associated with the Bariatric Program at UPMC Magee Hospital. February 11, I go to a Bariatric Support Group meeting (not required) February 23, I go to the first of five or six Bariatric Classes to meet insurance requirements. February 24, I attend the first of 12 weeks of Healthy Lifestyle classes (not required) February 24, (later that same day) I have my initial Consultation with Dr. Carol A McCloskey who will likely be my surgeon Also, I am signed up for the UPMC Body Changers program (not required) but the February schedule won't be available until tomorrow.

Thanks for the tip!

Zinc, C, Probiotics and garlic. Sounds like my go-to techniques for avoiding getting sick NOW. Good to know I'll be able to use them after surgery too! One question, though. Anybody gotten any advice on flu shots and/or pneumonia vaccine post-op? I should be about 2 months post-op when I would normally get my flu shot.....

Well, I got my appointments lined up yesterday, but didn't post here. These are the formal parts of the bariatric program I am entering. Initial Surgical Consult with Dr. Carol A. McCloskey is Tuesday, February 24 @ UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital, 1st of 5/6 Bariatric Classes/Supervised Weight Loss is Monday February 23, also at Magee Hospital. Bariatric Support Group is 2nd Wed (February 11) @ Magee Hospital. I am also pursuing various other Weight Loss/Fitness/Healthy Living options at the same time. I am joined the UPMC BodyChangers program and will be attending Shape Training on Saturday, February 7. Also from UPMC BodyChangers is Finding Your Fit "Why Move?" on Friday, February 20. I meet with an independent Nutritionist, Jenny Nguyen, on Thursday, February 19. I have enrolled in a 12-week Healthy Lifestyle "Weight Loss" program starting Tuesday, February 24. Finally, I have issues with emotional eating. I am trying to find a therapist to help me with this pre- AND post-op. In them mean time/in addition to, I am going to try and hit a couple of OA meetings each week. Busy month! Anybody use Dr. McCloskey before? Or planning to attend any of the above classes/groups? I could use some local friends who understand what I'm going through....

As to regaining weight after being on BL and losing a bunch, I've heard 95% put at LEAST all their weight back on.

Pre-op? Probably only those who will be directly effected (not much of anyone that I can think of currently) or who I will be calling on to help me immediately post-op (a VERY few people!). Once I have the surgery done and I have found my rhythm? Probably most anyone that specifically asks, to be honest. I've never been any good at keeping things to myself.

Due to the expected worst weather so far this season in Pittsburgh, PA, forecast for February 1, my independant nutritionist appointment has been rescheduled for the 19th. Also, I have my initial bariatric appointments finally. My first class/supervised weight loss is February 23, and my initial consult with Dr. Carol A. McCloskey is February 24. For the UPMC BodyChangers program, I will be going to Shape Training on the 7th and Finding Your Fit "Why Move?" on the 20th. And finally, I got on the local OA site and found about a dozen meetings I should be able to get to over the course of the month to hopefully help me find new ways to deal with my emotional eating. (Maybe even actually deal with the emotions themselves? Probably not, but we'll see!)

@BLERDgirl I'm the opposite end of the state, Pittsburgh and planning on having the surgery done at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital. Odd choice for a guy, but the other local UPMC facility is really hard to get to by bus, especially so post-op. The supplements I listed were the ones that kept showing up on different homeopathy sites for post-op healing. @InItToWinIt2015 thanks for the advice. Maybe I'll just supplement those two amino acids and get onto a Vitamin regimen as soon as possible post-op. I've seen liquid Vitamins which I'm thinking I should be able to do immediately post-op until I can handle chewables. All in all, I want to heal as quickly as possible so I don't have pain as an excuse not to walk, and end up with all the problems caused by not walking,. And I'd rather the scars from the laproscopic procedure not be visible at 50 yards should I ever go to the beach again. *shrugs* Never been vain before,. Then again, I've never NOT been fat before either.

I am VERY early on in the process, so in some senses this is premature. But I figure if I can collect ideas here now, I will have time to do my own research AND get the products I decide on before I actually need them. (Being on Disability, I have a VERY tight budget so will probably only be able to get one item per month sort of thing.) There are a couple of topics in various other places on Bariatric Pal, and I found a couple of web sites that give general post-op suggestions for after surgery. What I've come up with so far is Arnica, Belle Perenis, Calendula, Gota Kola extract, and Staphisagria. Also loading up on Vitamins A, C, and E along with the mineral Zinc. Has anybody heard of any of these? More importantly, does anyone have first hand information from taking any of them to help with your recovery?